Two Baltimore officers charged with assaulting drug suspect

Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Two Baltimore police officers have been charged with assaulting a man last year after he fled a drug arrest and tried to hide in one of the officers' girlfriend's home.

Sgt. Marinos N. Gialamas and Officer Anthony Williams, who was off duty at the time, are charged with the second-degree assault of a 32-year-old man inside the East Baltimore home of Williams' girlfriend.

Gialamas, 40, an 18-year veteran, is also accused of three counts of misconduct, while Williams, 37, a five-year veteran, was charged with obstructing and hindering an investigation. Both were charged through "criminal information," a mechanism that allows them to avoid arrest.

Neither officer could be reached for comment.

According to documents from the initial arrest, the officers were conducting a drug investigation in the 2300 block of E. Biddle St., the same block where 47-year-old Anthony Anderson recently died during a drug arrest. It is described in charging documents as a "high drug/crime area." Anderson's death has been ruled a homicide and remains under investigation.

In last year's incident, Officer Keith Tiedemann wrote in charging papers that Antoine Douglas Green was approached by eight men and women, then began collecting cash and placing it in his right front pants pocket. The officer wrote that they saw Green reach into his waistband and remove a clear plastic bag containing what appeared to be small amounts of drugs packaged for distribution.

Tiedemann wrote that Green — who received six years in prison in 2000 for a drug conviction and eight years for a 2007 probation violation in the same case — saw their unmarked car approaching, tossed the bag over the top of a temporary fence near a construction site, and took off running through an alley behind Patterson Park Avenue.

As officers put out Green's description over the police radio, a woman called 911, saying that a man had just kicked in the rear door and entered her home in the 2200 block of Prentiss Place. She locked herself in the bedroom as police went to the home.

The records say that Green was found in the basement of the home, and as police were securing the scene, Williams arrived. The report does not say who called him. Green heard the officers saying he would be charged with a drug violation, to which they said he responded: "I'll take the break-in charge, but I ain't taking that drug charge!" according to the records.

Green became upset as he was placed in a police wagon to be taken to Central Booking, the report claims, but then calmed down and said he wanted to apologize to the woman in the home. "He was allowed to re-enter the home and began flailing around the floor and tried to get up quickly. He then attempted to charge and head-butt off-duty Officer Williams," the report says.

The document does not describe an assault on Green except to say his shirt was torn in a "scuffle" and that he was brought back outside and taken to the Eastern District station. Green was charged at the time with various drug counts, fourth-degree burglary and second-degree assault, and released on $5,000 bond. The charges were dropped by prosecutors in April.

Attempts to reach Green and his attorney in that case were not successful.

The criminal information filed this month against Gialamas and Williams does not explain how investigators determined that Green had been assaulted. It says that Williams "intentionally and knowingly obstructed and hindered" internal affairs investigators on Oct. 3 and 4 of this year.

"Any activity that undermines the integrity of the Baltimore Police Department simply won't be tolerated," Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in a statement. "Our continued commitment to the people of Baltimore is that all allegations of misconduct and corruption among the ranks of the Baltimore Police Department will be vigorously investigated."

"As always, we stand committed to investigating claims of police misconduct and, when appropriate, prosecuting officers who violate the law," State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said in the statement.